


The Return

by MerlinStella (orphan_account)



Series: The Guy Who Liked TGWDLM [2]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Based on a Creature Feature Song, Cured!Paul, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, F/M, Song Lyrics, infected!paul, not putting that much as to no spoil anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-11-02 03:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20611793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MerlinStella
Summary: Paul and Emma are having a happy life in Colorado after Paul gets cured. But what happens when Paul starts hearing phantom melodies?





	The Return

**Author's Note:**

> Yes another song lyric fic. This time I went with The Greatest Show Unearthed Returns by Creature Feature. I get a feeling this has been done before but oh well. I took bits of Dex's Colorado Ending AU and After Inevitable but (sloppily) tried to make it my own? You'll see what I mean.

** _I'm still the man you trust_ **

  
Paul woke up with a scream, covered in cold sweat. He hadn't had nightmares about that night in forever. Emma was so frightened.   
He could still remember her saying, "Paul you're scaring me." 

  
He knew he was scaring her then, he was scaring himself then. With each look Paul struggled for control, and he got it. He was somehow half infected, the infection wasn't able to fully take him yet. He was one of the few a cure would work on. It was over now. They made it. He was safe. 

  
The sun beamed on him as he caught his breath. The first thing that came to mind was panic over Emma not being there, then realizing Emma had just woken up before him. Normally he would get up before her. He was the morning person and she was not. But not today, he glanced over at the alarm clock next to him only to find out it was already noon. The second thought that came to him was how much he wanted a black coffee.

  
It was a small, cosy house with room for a pot farm. Just as PEIP had given Emma. Paul had never been one for weed, being concerned how it'd affect his anxiety but Emma's strange love for pot was kind of cute. As far as he heard her editables were some of the best. But maybe what made it so adorable was her general interest in botany. She'd never seem like the type, but backpacking had her develop an interest in various plants. Enough to start community college just so she could learn botany. He couldn't help but watch her gardening with amazement as he slowly snipped his coffee. 

  
** _As night draws near, you hear a familiar song_ **

  
** _As it grows clear you can feel something is wrong_ **

  
The melody rings in his ears. Emma comes in from the back door. "Oh hey sleeping beauty, your finally up. Why were staring at me, you creep," Emma teased, washing her hands. Paul doesn't react, he blinks in bewilderment. 

  
Emma looks concerned, more concerned than she's been in awhile. "Paul are you okay?"

  
"Yeah..." He brushes it off. Though his hands are shaking.

  
** _Your body stiffens, fear wells up inside your bones_ **

  
** _Something's come back for you while you are all alone_ **

  
Paul darts his eyes up from their spot on the countertops, looking around him. Emma now looks really concerned. "Paul, I'm serious are you okay?" 

  
** _You wake up screaming_ **

  
** _Frightened by memories_ **

  
** _You're plagued by nightmares_ **

  
** _Do we haunt all of your dreams_ **

  
** _You barely survived, escaped our last show_ **

  
** _Once you're in our grip we'll never let you go_ **

  
As Paul's eyes widen he drops his mug. Hot black coffee spilling onto the floor. "Can you hear that?" He asks, anxiety clear in his voice. 

  
"Hear what? Paul-"

  
Like an axe to the head, a pain grows in Paul's brain. He clutches his head, his ear ringing from the phantom melodies. 

  
** _Once you let us in we will never truly leave_ **

  
** _And we'll be with you until you cease to breathe_ **

  
"Paul you're scaring me-"

  
** _You wake up screaming_ **

  
** _Frightened by memories_ **

  
** _You're plagued by nightmares_ **

  
** _Do we haunt all of your dreams_ **

  
** _You barely survived, escaped our last show_ **

  
** _Once you're in our grip we'll never let you go_ **

  
** _Never let you go_ **

  
** _Never let you go_ **

  
Paul wakes up. It's a strange sensation. There's nothing in front of him. He can't move. He isn't in control. But he feels calmer now. He feels happy.

He remembers now.

  
_ **The darkness seeps back into your bones** _

  
_ **Fade to black** _

  
_ **You have been ravenous for something new** _

  
_ **Welcome back** _

  
_ **We have so many sights to show you** _

  
_ **And you won't know what hit you** _

  
He was never cured.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not saying this is a sequel to For You Forever but you're open to think it is.


End file.
